GOP field in 4th CD a little less “ornery”

The field of would-be challengers of Democratic incumbent Jim Himes in the Fourth Congressional District contracted Thursday, with Darien Republican David Orner dropping out of the race.

Orner’s exit leaves Chris Meek of Stamford and Steve Obsitnik of Westport as the two declared candidates in the race.

Orner, 45, is an executive with CIT Group in Norwalk, a bank holding company that provides capital to businesses.

He served as an intelligence officer during Operation Desert Storm and Operation Desert Shield in the Persian Gulf.

Here’s Orner’s e-mail to his supporters:

Dear Friends,

After much thought and discussion, I have decided to withdraw my name from consideration for the Republican nomination for the 4th Congressional District in this 2012 election.

This difficult decision is driven by my need to re-focus more of my attention on my personal and professional responsibilities. It has become clear in the recent weeks that with changing responsibilities at this time, I will not be able to devote the time necessary to run the type of campaign I wanted to run, a campaign dedicated to spending significant time in the District discussing the issues. It is not fair to the voters of the 4th District to get less of my attention than is necessary to win this election in November. Accordingly, I must admit that this is not my year.

To be sure, change is needed in Washington to get this country back on track economically and to restore to our country to its proper place in the world. My message of individual accountability, fiscal reasonability, limited government and “doing the right thing” has been well received by the folks that I have had the pleasure of meeting all across the District over these last months. I can promise you that I will continue to work hard in a multitude of ways to promote these ideas, now and in the future.

I truly enjoyed my time on the campaign trail meeting with so many of you and speaking about our shared ideas for moving this country forward. I appreciate the support and encouragement that you have given me along the way. I look forward to working with you all again in the future.